The present invention relates to human powered buoyant devices, and more particularly, to a buoyant apparatus which is propelled by a human operator in either a standing or sitting position.
Many attempts have been made to devise a practical apparatus which would enable a person to propel him or herself through the water in either a standing or sitting position utilizing a walking movement. Although these devices have taken many forms, they have generally proven unsatisfactory due to various problems such as lack of stability, cumbersomeness, complexity, control difficulty and inadequate buoyancy.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,494 of Dougherty discloses a pair of foot worn pontoons having flippers and ballast tanks with buoyancy adjusting valves. U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,826 of Sanders discloses a device having four cylindrical floats with paddles which are mounted upon crankshafts having double cranks. The crankshafts are connected by threadle boards operated by a standing person to propel the device forwardly through the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,349,891 of Kuznetzoff discloses a swimming device consisting of a pair of buoyant balls having paddles attached thereto. The balls are connected by a crankshaft having a pair of handles which are rotated by a swimmer in order to provide propulsion. U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,732 of Hetland discloses a water roller apparatus including a pair of inflated rubber tubes provided with radially extending paddles about their circumferences. The tubes are held in spaced apart, parallel relationship by a supporting structure. A pair of operators stand inside the structure and cause the device to roll through the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,278 of Skinner discloses a water craft in which three automobile tire tubes support a bicycle frame. Paddles connected to the bicycle pedals propel the craft forwardly. U.S. Pat. No. 2,488,310 of Mayer discloses a water craft including a pair of rotatable annular floats capable of supporting the craft by their displacement buoyancy. The lower surface of each float is provided with a plurality of vanes or paddles. The rotational axes of the floats are canted so that when the floats are rotated in opposite directions, the submerged paddles propel the craft forwardly while the forwardly moving paddles are clear of the water. The craft is propelled by a motor which rotates the annular floats through a gear drive. Steering is accomplished with a submerged rudder.